Editing Office Documents – which method when

With the launch of Office for iPad, we have yet another method of viewing and editing Office documents. You may not have realized, but over time many different ways of viewing and editing Office documents.

There are two problems. Firstly, you may not be aware of ALL these options. Secondly, you may not have a clear cut understanding of which is suitable in which scenario.
In this article, I will address both these aspects.

Editing Office Documents : Scenarios

Here is a concise table showing the available methods and usage scenarios.

Full Features. Retain older version of Office in case you have compatibility issues with applications or macros

Same as above.

Office on Demand

Temporarily get full version of Office on any internet connected desktop. Edit with full features. When you logoff, that temporary copy of Office is removed

You want full features to edit documents on someone else’s PC which does not have Office installed or it has older version of Office.

Full featured Office

Simultaneous Editing in Word, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Excel only if stored on file share. SharePoint can be mapped as a drive.

Multiple persons want to edit the document at the same time without interfering with each other’s work.

Saving the document shows other’s changes.

Office Online

View / perform simple editing using any browser.

Full features are not available.

In multi-user edit mode, last person to edit wins.

Share documents easily with people who do not have Office. Or for roaming users. Quick editing and reviewing possible.

Excel Online

Show only summarized data (reports) even if the file size is large

Deliver reports – best alternative to sending reports by mail. With Office 365, you can share reports with external parties as well.

PowerPoint Online

View and Run presentations on browser

For PowerPoint, view presentations without allowing people to download original content. Video and audio is supported. Most transitions work well. No loss of color resolution. Ideal for protecting your IPR. Ideal for publishing training content.

Present Online option

Available for PowerPoint and Word using free service – Office presentation service

Participants cannot edit or comment on the documents

Let others view your Word / PowerPoint documents in a shared mode. You navigate the document and others automatically see that part of the document. Discussion can be on Lync chat or voice call.

Also useful if you want others to change the document by giving them temporary control. Does not require others to have Office installed. Any application can be used for editing.

Entire interaction can be recorded for audit purposes.

Office on Mobiles

Available on Windows, Android and iPhone

Viewing and minimal editing of documents. Deliver presentations.

The best way to Edit Office Documents is

Office with Windows – full versions!

Serious and full featured editing should be done on full version Office

If you want others to just VIEW your documents, store them in OneDrive and send a link to people

If you want to deliver the document and never think about it again, send it as an attachment using a mail

If you want multiple people to contribute to the document, store it on OneDrive and share it with contributors. If everyone does not have Office use browser based editing. Otherwise use full featured editing.

If you want to get opinion from multiple people quickly, present it to them and finalize the document on a chat or audio / video call using Online Presentation modes shown above

iPad is best used for portability and simple editing while on the go

While on the go – on long journeys in restricted spaces and limited power supply, if you want to read long documents while highlighting text and adding comments, Windows based tablets are your best bet. (iPad does not have a reading view as on 2nd Apr 14)

For anything offline, you need local storage. Therefore you need to use the Sync option of OneDrive or OneDrive for business and use a device which supports local storage like Windows PCs, Laptops, Tablets and now iPad. Mobiles also support offline storage but the editing capabilities are extremely restricted.

Note that Click to Run and Office on Demand are available if you have Office 365 subscription (E3 or equivalent). Click to Run can be setup in your in-house environment as well using AppV technology.

Outlook and Exchange

Although everyone already knows these options, I am including these for the sake of completeness.

Outlook full application is obviously the best option.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) is also a very good alternative when all you have is browser and internet access. Unless you know the search syntax, all search features will not be available to you. Of course, PST files on your local PC are not available on OWA

iPad version of OWA is also very nice and usable.

All mobile platforms provide base integration with Exchange mail. The level of integration and feature set varies widely amongst various platforms and device manufacturers. Check before you buy.

However, if you want full featured access to mails, calendars and tasks on Android or iPhone I prefer TouchDown by NitroDesk. Amazingly sophisticated product which exploits the power of Exchange to the fullest extent. Absolutely worth the money they charge.